


It Started With The Circus

by Super_Secret_Slash_Agent



Category: Now You See Me (2013), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Brother Feels, Brotherly Bonding, Brothers, Clint Needs a Hug, Don't Judge Me, I Don't Even Know, Jack Feels, Jack Needs a Hug, Long Lost/Secret Relatives, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Plotbunnies, Post-Movie(s), barney is an ahole, even if you didnt know it, everybody needs a hug, i'm sensing a pattern here, im making this up as i go, jack is clint's younger brother, kinda took on a life of its own, they just wont die, where am i going with this, you know you secretly wanted this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-27
Updated: 2014-05-27
Packaged: 2018-01-26 14:20:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1691402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Super_Secret_Slash_Agent/pseuds/Super_Secret_Slash_Agent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Jack Wilder was the younger brother of Clint Barton?</p>
<p>In other words, the plotbunnies attacked and held on tight until I wrote this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Started With The Circus

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or Now You See Me... no matter how much I wish I did.

Clint was staring at the screen, the screen where he was watching four magicians rob a bank in Paris, from Las Vegas. It wasn't the trick that drew him in, or the reaction of the news casters as they reported everything, it was the magicians themselves. They called themselves the Four Horsemen, and the youngest one had Clint's full attention. Jack Wilder, or as Clint knew him, Jack Barton. Clint knew who it was, he could recognize his little brother anywhere, even if it had been almost a decade since he had seen the kid and he had thought Jack was dead. He should have known better than to believe anything Barney had ever told him. The screen cut to a shot of the four entertainers being walked out of the hotel in handcuffs and beside him Tony let out a whistle, "Damn. I wonder how they did it. That was pretty impressive."

Natasha huffed, "I doubt it was real. It's probably all for show."

Bruce shook his head, "No, part of it was. I think they did actually rob the bank, just not when everyone thought they did."

Tony shook a finger at Bruce, "Now that's an idea. I can see that maybe working out."

Steve shrugged, "Seems pretty complex for a trick, what if they have actual magic?"

It was Tony's turn to be dismissive, "No such thing."

Steve raised an eyebrow, "You are friends with a super soldier from World War II, a Norse god and the Hulk and you don't believe that magic might exist?"

Tony contemplated the words for a moment, "I guess you got a point there. Still not sure I believe in magic though."

Laughter boomed from Thor, "Friend Stark, magic does indeed exist but I see it not in those depicted on your screen of television."

Tony smirked and pointed to Thor, "See, not magic."

Bruce shrugged, "He only said the Horsemen weren't magic. He also said that magic was real."

Tony shrugged, "Pot-ay-to, pot-ah-to, care to weigh in Katniss?"

Everyone turned to look at Clint when he didn't answer. Their gazes turned confused, troubled and eventually out right worried. Clint ignored them and stood up, he had to talk to Phil. "I gotta go." He quickly left the room, ignoring the questions he heard behind him asking if he was alright. He needed to talk to Phil.

 

x.X. NYSM/Avengers .X.x

 

Phil was surprised when Clint showed up in his office, "I thought you were going to be at the tower all day."

Phil was even more surprised when Clint completely ignored him and instead turned on the television in the corner of the office. Clint turned to Phil, "Have you seen this?"

A glance at the tv showed Phil a news report on a group of magicians who had robbed a bank from halfway across the world in front of a live audience. Phil sat up straighter, did the Director know about this? Then Phil saw it, the resemblance wasn't much, but when you knew every inch of Clint as well as he did... well it was easy to see that Clint was some how related to the youngest of the four magicians. Phil looked to Clint, the question evident in his eyes.

"He's my younger brother."

Phil's eyes widened, "But I thought he was..."

Clint shook his head, "Looks like Barney lied to me again. I never saw the body, I should have known Barney only said it to upset me when I wouldn't go along with their plan."

Phil laid a comforting hand on Clint's shoulders, "At least you know he is alive now."

The laugh Clint gave was humorless, "What good does that do now. He probably thinks I abandoned him when Barney did and on top of that, he is a suspect in a bank robbery."

Phil wasn't sure what to say, "They don't have proof that he was involved."

Clint chuckled, "Thanks Phil, I know you are trying but, I just want to see him." Clint looked into Phil's eyes and knew the other man understood so he let Phil pull him in for a hug as he watched his brother on the screen.

 

x.X. NYSM/Avengers .X.x

 

A few days later, Clint was watching as Jack shone a giant flashlight on a check and stole over $100,000,000 from his benefactor, Arthur Tressler. It was funny to see the FBI guy get tackled though, even if he did kinda look like Bruce. Natasha had figured it out and was watching him as he watched the tv. Phil was there this time so he was fine, even jumped into the conversation a few times.

Tony sounded exasperated, "It had to be fake, no way could a normal playing card slice through a pencil."

Clint smiled, yeah his little brother was kinda awesome, "It is actually, if your aim is good enough."

Tony shook his head, "I think the only one with good enough aim would be you Legolas."

Clint didn't answer.

 

x.X. NYSM/Avengers .X.x

 

When the news hit about the deadly outcome of the car chase, Clint dragged Phil home and curled up in his arms and cried. He had found out his brother was alive just to loose him all over again. Natasha made sure no one bothered them and Clint didn't bother to watch how their final show went.

 

x.X. NYSM/Avengers .X.x

 

Jack smiled at his fellow Horsemen as they walked away from the lights and sound of the carousel. Everything had gone perfectly, and Dylan had given them their first glimpse into the real world of magic, Jack couldn't wait to learn more. Dylan said it had to wait though, first they had to solidify an alliance with the only people who could stand in their way if they were still thought to be the bad guys. Jack couldn't believe he was going to meet the Avengers. Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk and maybe even the two unknown Avengers. Jack had been in the city for the invasion so he knew first hand the good that they did. It didn't hurt that he had loved superheroes since he had been a kid growing up in the circus with his brothers. Jack tried to stop the train of thought, but it was to late. He found himself thinking of how his brothers had just been gone, right along with the money the circus had saved up and only a bloody spot on the ground left behind them. At first, Jack had wondered if it had been one of his brothers that had gotten hurt, but they would have come back for him after they got better. Instead, Jack spent a few years living with the fortune teller until they reached New York and he struck out on his own. It still hurt to know that his older brothers had left him alone at barely ten years old. It led to thoughts with much older roots, what if they thought he was to blame for Mom dying in child birth and Father drinking and hurting them, the orphanage and having to run away to the circus to escape it. Daniel's hand on his shoulder brought him out of the spiral of thoughts. Jack met the older man's eyes and gave a tight smile.

Daniel sensed the kids reluctance to talk about what was on his mind so he went with a lighter topic, "What's it like to be dead?" Well, no one ever said Daniel Atlas had the best people skills, or conversational skills for that matter.

Jack smiled, "Not sure, haven't had much time to think about it. The whole world does think I'm dead don't they?"

Merritt laughed, "Kid, you broke their hearts. Everyone is sad you are dead because now you can't have all that sexual tension on stage with Atlas. You have killed their little fangirl dreams."

Henley slapped Merritt playfully, "Don't listen to him Jack, everyone is sad because you are so young, they all think you had your whole life ahead of you."

Jack looked away, not wanting to let Daniel see the slight blush from Merritt's ribbing, "I'm not that young."

Merritt paused, "How old are you anyways? I don't think we ever asked."

Jack mumbled and Henley laughed, "Louder Jack, couldn't hear you above all that mumbling."

With a sigh Jack spoke more clearly, "Almost twenty."

Merritt looked a bit surprised, "You are only nineteen?!? Damn, Daniel, you are robbing the cradle with this one."

"A six year age difference is completely acceptable in society. He is also a consenting adult and not a minor so it does not matter." Daniel shrugged it off, he already knew how old Jack was, he knew before they started seeing each other. Jack smiled and Daniel took his hand, "Enough about this, Dylan is setting up a meet at Stark tower for us tomorrow, we need to be ready."

 

x.X. NYSM/Avengers .X.x

 

Clint was staring down at his breakfast as he listened to the conversation around him. Tony was shrugging, "I don't know, some guy called and said the Horsemen wanted to explain things."

Pepper sighed, "So the three remaining Horsemen are just going to show up and say 'we didn't mean to hurt anyone'?"

Tony shook his head, "The guy said to expect six of them, guess they are bringing their behind the scenes people in. From what the guy said, it sounds like there is a lot more to the story than we know."

Pepper gave up, "At least inform Director Fury that they are going to be here. If one of them does have actual magic, it would be nice to have SHIELD ready to go if anything happens."

Tony nodded and Pepper knew that was the best she would get so she left to deal with business, Tony leaving soon after to his lab and Clint sat there, wondering how he could face his dead bother's friends and listen to them tell him why it had to happen that way.

 

x.X. NYSM/Avengers .X.x

 

Jack was nervous as they took the elevator up, Dylan had met them at the tower, and they had been unsurprised when he had Alma in tow. Jack totally knew something had been going on there, ask Henley, he had so called that. He didn't have time to dwell on that though, because the elevator door was opening and they were stepping out and coming face to face with a group of superheroes. Jack looked at all of them, the suit and the eye patch guy were probably from the organization that formed the Avengers, SHIELD. Thor looked regal, Captain America was perfect, Iron Man had a huge smirk on his face and Bruce Banner actually looked exactly like Dylan...weird. Iron Man broke the silence, "A Bruce look alike and hey! aren't you supposed to be dead?"

Jack smirked in reply as his eyes came to rest on the final two, a beautiful redhead who looked like she could kill you a million different ways with a paperclip and... Jack froze, his smile slipping from his face. Without even thinking, he sent a playing card a the man's face. He hadn't expected the girl to catch it. The man, his brother's face showed the shock he felt so Jack did the only thing he could, he ran.

 

x.X. NYSM/Avengers .X.x

 

Clint was nervous as they stood by the elevator. The Horsemen were coming up and Clint didn't know if he could do it. He wished he was standing with Phil, instead of on the other side of the group next to Natasha, not that Natasha wasn't great, but she wasn't Phil.

The door opened and Clint scanned them, looking for weapons. Tony's comment brought his eyes to the faces though, "A Bruce look alike and hey! aren't you supposed to be dead?"  
Clint met familiar eyes, his brother's eyes, who he had thought was dead... again. Then Jack threw something at him, Natasha caught the playing card right in front of his face and Clint knew the damage Jack could do with those things. Then Jack ran, so Clint ran after him, leaving the rest of the room confused.

 

x.X. NYSM/Avengers .X.x

 

Both groups stood in shocked silence as the two men ran from the room. Merritt asked the question on everyone's mind, "What the hell just happened?"

Phil cleared his throat, "It seems Mr. Wilder was not pleased to see his brother."

Daniel's eyes narrowed, "Jack told me what happened, his brothers abandoned him when he was a kid, left him to live on the streets."

Phil hid a wince, "I'm afraid Clint had been under the impression Jack had been killed when their older brother stole from the circus and ran, leaving Clint to drag himself to a hospital."

Tony held up a hand, "Am I the only one shocked to find out Merida has a brother?"

Merritt looked shocked, "Jack was in the circus?"

Henley shrugged, "He did say once he lived with a fortune teller for a while."

Tony spoke again, "Isn't Jack supposed to be dead anyways... oh guess that's why Clint has been all upset."

Merritt looked around, "Has anyone else noticed that Dylan and that guy could be twins?"

Tony turned to the mentalist, "I know right!"

Fury stepped in, "I believe we have more important things to discuss, we will deal with Agent Barton and Mr. Wilder at a later time. As well as the resemblance between Banner and Rhodes. Now, can someone tell me why an FBI agent and an Interpol agent are aiding and abetting the fugitives they have been trying to catch?"

 

x.X. NYSM/Avengers .X.x

 

Clint had a bit of trouble catching Jack, the kid was fast and had a very unique and inventive fighting style. Clint had more experience though. When the two finally came to a stop at the bottom of the stairwell they had run down, they were out of breath and unsure what to do. Jack made the first move, "Why did you leave me? You and Barney were just gone and I was all alone. I was ten! Do you know what it's like to grow upon the streets? To never have a place to sleep, never have anything to eat? I taught myself how to pick pockets to stay alive Clint. Do you know what I almost had to do, what I did do to stay alive?" At this point, Jack was yelling, holding nothing back of the years of anger and abandonment he had felt.

Clint flinched, "I thought you were dead. I caught Barney stealing, he said his partner had taken care of you and he was going to have to take care of me if I didn't go with them. He almost killed me."

Jack met Clint's eyes for the first time, "You thought I was dead?"

Clint looked down, "More than once."

Jack looked puzzled until he remembered his faked death, "Oh, um sorry about that I guess."

Clint shook his head, "I'm just glad you are alive." Jack was surprised when Clint drew him into a tight hug. Clint could feel the younger man's muscles tense but still held on, he wasn't sure he ever wanted to let go. 

Jack sniffed, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall, "Clint, what happened to Barney?"

Clint pulled away, "Jack, Barney went down a bad road. When I started with SHIELD, he was on their watch list. A few years in, I had a mission and Barney was there... I shot him Jack. His body wasn't there though, he must have survived somehow but he hasn't been heard from since."

Jack sighed, he wanted to say something but he wasn't sure what. "Lets get back up there before our teams decide to kill each other, the way we left wasn't entirely reassuring."

x.X. NYSM/Avengers .X.x

Alma sighed as she watched the two groups try to figure things out, they didn't seem to understand that they should just leave it alone and Jack and the other one... Clint, yes that was it, would tell them when they were ready. The only other one who seemed to get that was the red head who joined them a few minutes after everything happened, she was sitting there with Alma, shaking her head at Stark's antics. Alma smiled, "You seem used to such behavior."

Pepper smiled, "You never quite get used to Tony, but you eventually stop being surprised. Your accent, French?"

Alma smiled, "Oui, I was working Interpol on the Horsemen with the FBI."

Pepper cocked her head, "So how did you get here?"

Alma shrugged, "I am still not quite sure. Dylan, Agent Rhodes, seems to believe in them. He hid it during the investigation but he came to me after, told me what really happened. It is a sad story, but one with a hopeful ending. There is much these four can do for the world, they have done so much already and with what they will learn... they can be as great as your superheroes."

Pepper smiled, "It seems you believe in them too."

Alma nodded, "I have faith."

x.X. NYSM/Avengers .X.x

Jack and Clint paused to look at each other as they heard the arguing voices. Clint squared his shoulders and sent Jack a look that said 'best to get it over with' and opened the door. The brothers were pleased that the two groups weren't at each other throats, but thoroughly confused as to what the arguing was even about. When they were spotted, the room came to a stand still. Clint crossed his arms, "What is going on here?"

Tony opened his mouth to speak then paused, "Ah... actually, I'm not even sure anymore."

Jack looked over at Merritt, Daniel and Henley who shrugged as well. Jack shook his head, "Only you guys would argue without even arguing."

Daniel smiled, "Thank you."

Henley looked exasperated, "How is that a compliment?!?"

Steve looked back and forth between the two, "Are you two together?"

Henley let out an insulted cry, "Not even. Besides, Daniel is too far up Jack's ass to even look at anyone else." Jack could feel the blush as Captain America looked over at him.

A bit surprised, Steve could only reply with "Oh."

Merritt raised an eyebrow, "You got a problem with them?"

Steve's eyes widened, "Oh, no not at all! I mean Hawkeye and ummm no I wouldn't be like that."

Phil shook his head in amusement, "What the Captain is trying to say is that he is okay with it and Clint and I are together."

Tony smiled, "So both of you are gay... what are the odds of that."

Natasha rolled her eyes, "Stop being immature Stark."

Tony pouted, "I thought we were past all this Stark business."

Bruce raised an eyebrow, "You know she only calls you that when you are acting like a teenager."

Merritt smiled, "Yeah, they only one that gets to act like a teenager is Jack, because he is one."

The Avengers looked shocked. Pepper looked worried, "How old are you Jack."

Clint answered for him, "He's nineteen, twenty in a few months. He's not a kid though, I think we all can see that."

Jack shrugged, "You grow up fast living on the streets of New York."

Tony looked at the kid, it was true, the kid wasn't really a kid, "Robin Hood, how come your kid brother was living in the city and you never said anything."

Clint cleared his throat, "I thought he was dead."

Dylan moved next to Jack, "Jack did well enough by himself anyways, it's why I chose him. He could do a trick and pick the pockets of half the crowd with out moving from his spot. In fact, the day I gave him his card, he performed a trick, told the audience he would pay them if they could figure it out then when one guy did, he paid the guy out of his own wallet" 

Merritt whistled, "And they guy never noticed it was his wallet you pulled out?"

"Nope, guy even complemented the wallet." Jack smiled big and wide, he was sorta proud he could distract someone enough to pull that off.

Fury's lip twitched in a semblance of a smile, "That's a useful skill. We could use people like you in our organization, like all of you."

"Well," Dylan spoke, "That's what we are here to talk about."

Fury nodded to Phil, who took over the negotiation process, soon, the Avengers and the Horsemen had a solid foundation for their future as allies, leaving the two groups to talk. Pepper and Alma dragged Tony, Dylan and Bruce into a conversation that surprisingly wasn't about the resemblance between Banner and Rhodes. Natasha and Hanley went off to discuss shoes, eager to leave the men to their own devices. Merritt took the opportunity to read Thor, much to the amusement of Steve. Fury seemed to disappear, so Clint, Phil, Daniel and Jack were left to talk amongst themselves.

The group made their way to the couch and Jack immediately curled up next to Daniel. He was surprised, when he looked up, to see Clint in an almost identical position next to Phil. Jack smiled and winked at his brother who chuckled lightly. Daniel and Phil sent each other looks over the heads of their lovers, exasperated but fond looks. Jack and Clint caught each other up with their lives, Daniel and Phil listening intently. As the voices around them continued on, Jack and Clint couldn't help but think that maybe things would finally be right.


End file.
